Apparatus for the treatment of light sensitive surfaces



Dec. 29, 1936. N. P. BILLING 6 ,5

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF LIGHT SENSITIVE SURFACES Filed Oct. 23, 1934 i191. l'l'yfl. l V

I 171% g 21 M 1 F 4 a 15% -ZZ25 15 w w 1 2 "MM 20 Patented Dec. 29, 1936 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF LIGHT SENSITIVE SURFACES Noel Pemberton Billing, London, England Application October 23, 1934, Serial No. 749,656 In Great Britain November 3, 1933 14 Claims.

This invention consists in improvements in or relating to apparatus for the treatment (e. g. the development) of a light-sensitive surface such as a photographic film or plate or a photographic printing surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide apparatus in which the treatment may be carried out in ordinary day-light and which will be of simple form and easy to manipulate.

The present invention comprises a container one wall of which is constituted by the lightsensitive surface which is to be treated.

For example, the container, constituting a treating chamber, is formed with an aperture in a wall thereof and is combined with means to hold the light-sensitive surface over the aperture to serve as a closure therefor so that treating liquid charged into the chamber will be retained therein, so far as the aforesaid aperture is concerned, by the light-sensitive surface and the latter will receive treatment by the liquid.

Thus assuming the light-sensitive surface is an emulsion which will swell when treated with liquid, the retention of the emulsion over the margin of the aperture will, owing to the swelling of the emulsion, ensure a liquid seal around the margin of the aperture.

In a modified form of the invention a treating chamber affords within it a support or retainer for the light-sensitive surface and has a passage or passages opening into the chamber through a wall thereof, in combination with a baffle so disposed as to intercept passage of lightrays which may enter the passage or passages and to serve as a light-trap to prevent such rays reaching the light-sensitive surface.

Preferably, the support or retainer for the light-sensitive surface is situated at an open end if of the container and the light-sensitive surface may be utilized to serve as the closure therefor with the aid of a retainer to hold the said surface in position.

Conveniently, the passage or passages above mentioned, which serve to permit treating fluid to enter the chamber and to pass to the lightsens'itive surface, are situated in a wall of the chamber opposite to that at which the lightsensitive surface is retained.

In a modification of the invention the chamber is built up of two or more elements connected together to afford a chamber having the construction defined above of a volume to accommodate the requisite quantity of treating fluid.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood a preferred example will noW be described with the aid of the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a central sectional elevation of the apparatus including a container for the treating fluid, 5

Figure 2 is a plan of the apparatus illustrated in Figure l, with the container 25 removed,

Figure 3 is a plan looking from above of a lower element of the chamber,

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 10 3 viewed in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 5 is a plan of another lower element of the chamber,

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure l of a modifled form of the upper container shown in Fig- 15 ure 1,

Figure 7, on a reduced scale, is a perspective view of the assembled apparatus as it will appear in use,

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 6 of a'zo further modified form of upper container, and

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure l of apparatus having a hinged cover for holding the lightsensitive material in position for treatment.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in'25 the several figures of the drawing.

As shown most clearly in Figures 1 and 7 the chamber in which treatment is to be effected comprises a base portion of the apparatus illustrated. This base portion comprises a box-like 30 member having rectangular side walls In closed by a floor or lower wall I l. One of the side walls is cut away at 12 to permit of another member being slid therein. The upper end of the member I!) is partially closed by a cover 13 having a central aperture l4 which is screwthreaded at l5 as shown in Figures 1 and 5. Within the screwthread I5 is accommodated an upper member 6 which is of substantially cylindrical form externally and has the lower portion of its cylindrical wall screwthreaded for engagement with the screwthreads l5. When in the position shown in Figure 1 the interior of the member [6 affords a domed cavity and through the top wall there are provided several apertures l1 constituting the passages first referred to herein. These passages afford communication between the interior of the member [6 and the space outside or beyond it and internally of the member Hi there is a baflle or light-trap l8 to prevent light passing through the aperture I! to the lower wall II or to a lightsensitive surface supported thereon. The battle I 8 is of inverted mushroom shape and is attached by the free end of the stalk portion at I9 to the member I6. The baflie i8 is, however, such that and is so disposed that liquid such as a developing agent, for instance, may enter through the aperture l1 and pass around the edge of the baille into the] space enclosed within the members I!) n 1' 6,

Sliding through the aperture E2 in the lower member I is an inner lower member 20 of annu-.

lar form. The upper end of this member has an aperture which is circular but at the lower end the aperture is square. This may be obtained by forming the inner wall of the annulus as though a V-shaped portion were cut away commencing from a point indicated at 21' in Figure 3 and'terminating in an adjacent angle of the square opening at the opposite end. The upper end of the member 20 is formed with a flange 22 which can fit within the lower extremity of the upper member l6 and is formed to receive a gasket 23.

At the upper portion of the member Hi there is an annular flange internally screwthreaded at 24 to' receive a correspondingly threaded heck of"a container 25 which is preferably formed of glass.

It may, however,be' formed of any preferred mai'iteria'l, The con'tainer Z-B 'isrintended to contain the treating liquid'which will normally be retainedtherein bya cover screwing on to the neck of the container; 7 In operation the apparatus will be employed as follows 7 The coveris first removed from the container and the member I'B is threaded onto the neck of the container inTpl-ace of the cover. These two parts will be screwed tightly together. The base member I0 is then screwed on to the memberiifi and'the'i'nner member 20 may be passed into the'basemember it! either before or after the latter has been engaged with the member I6. I The sur'face'tdb'e treated which is indicated at 26 is now inserted between the wall II and the adjacent end of the member 20, whereafter the member i6 is screwed tightly'hcme thus closing a the member 2!! tightlyaround the margin of the light-sensitive surface 26- and at the same time closing the member" I 6 on to'th'e' gasket 23 in both cases to effect a"fluidtight seal.

Al-l th'ese operations are'fcarr'ied out with the apparatus in the reverseposition from that'illustratediri Figure 1. V

Havingassembled the'various parts in the mannerjust described the apparatus is tilted to allow treating liquid 7 to run from the container 25 throughs'omeof the passages ll, air within the an exposed negative film the container 25 will be used for developing liquid forrthe required time accordingj'to the conditions of temperature, degreeof sensitivity of the surface and the developing'liquid' employed. As soon as the treatment has been carried out for the requisite time the liquid can be returned to the'container and another container applied in position to supply fixingliquid to the surface in'a similar manner.

In an alternative use of the apparatus the i lower-portion thereof including the parts Hi, 2!)

and v I6 maybe immersed bodily in the treating liquid or liquids' instead of using the container 25; It will be ap reciated that the chamber first referred to in the preamble of this specification consists essentially of the parts Ill, 26 and IE and this may be considered, in the form of the invention illustrated herein, as comprising a portion of a larger apparatus embodying also the container 25. In such a case the perforated wall of the chamber comprises a diaphragm separating the liquid container from the treating chamber.

In the form of container 25 illustrated in Figure 6 a screw-on cover 21 is provided from the inner surface of which depends a support 28 for a thermometer 29 by which the temperature of the treating liquid can be ascertained before the apparatus is put to use. The temperature can be read through the closed walls of the container.

If, however, the walls of the container are made from opaque material of any preferred nature the thermometer could be carried in the lid so that the stem of the thermometer projects beyond the lid in order that the temperature may be ascertained during the timethat the lid is in position immediately prior to use. Such a form of construction is shown in Figure 8 which .is provided with reference numerals corresponding to those employed in Figure 6.

The invention is not limited to the development of negative films as it may 'be employed for the development or other treatment of photographic positifve printing surfaces or any other light-sensitive surface requiring treatment by a liquid or fluid medium.

Moreover, the details of construction may be modified in many Ways. For example 'in place of securing the base ill in a manner described above, it may be hinged to the upper portion of the apparatus in such manner that after the sensitized sheet to be treated has been inserted between the base Ill and the part to which the latter is hinged, these 'two parts can be engaged by any preferred form of catch to hold the sensitized material tightly in position and ready for treatment. An example of this form of construction is shown in Figure 9 which is provided with reference numerals similar to those em-' ployed in 'Figure 1. The base Hi is hinged at 3| to the part 20 and. is securable in the position shown by the catch 30. Parts I6 and 20 are modified slightly so as to be securable together and the envelope containing the film 26 is manipulated from one side of the base ill having a cutaway flange or otherwise suitably formed for the purpose of enabling the slider of the film envelope to be withdrawn.

As a further modification the base may be slidingly engaged with the upper portion of the apparatus, provision being made for the sheet of material which is to be treated to be inserted between the slidingly engaged parts.

1. Apparatus for treating a light-sensitive surface comprising a chamber having an aperture in a wall thereof and having further an orifice which ner and for the purpose of effecting a liquid-tight closure of said aperture, and light-excluding means to prevent passage of light through the orifice when the light-sensitive surface being treated, said orifice being independent of" the cover. 76

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which light-excluding means is constituted by a liquid container securable over said orifice.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 having means to apply an adjustable pressure to the light-sensitive surface to hold it in close contact around the margin of the aperture.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the chamber walls surrounding the aperture are shaped, in the vicinity of the latter, to afford an edge against which the light-sensitive surface can form a fluid-tight seal by swelling upon being moistened.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the said chamber has disposed internally thereof a transversely extending light-trap in the form of a baflie which divides the chamber and is such as to permit fluid to pass from one side to the other, and in which the aperture to which the light-sensitive surface is applied is on one side and the orifice for admission of treating fluid is on the other side of the baffle.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the light-excluding means comprises a container for treating fluid securable to the walls of the treating chamber to cover the orifice therein in a lighttight manner and to render possible a fluid flow from the container through said orifice.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 having at least one passage serving to permit entry of treating fluid into the chamber and situated in a wall thereof that is opposite to that at which the light-sensitive surface is retained.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the treating chamber is built up of two or more interconnected elements.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the treating chamber comprises upper and lower members of which the upper member has means for connecting it to the cover for holding the light-sensitive surface and in which the said cover comprises a box-like container for the lower member of the treating chamber received and held in position within the cover when the latter and the upper member of the treating chamber are connected together.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1 having a treating chamber composed of upper and lower members of which the upper member has means for connecting it to the cover aforesaid, the lower member is in the form of a frame such as to constitute side walls only of a part of the treating chamber and has one open end against which the light-sensitive surface will be gripped and the cover comprises a box-like container for the lower member whereby when the cover and the upper member are secured together the lower member of the treating chamber will have its open end forced against the sensitive surface which is gripped between that end and the bottom of the cover.

11. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the treating chamber is built up of two or more interconnected elements and a fluid-inlet passage is provided in that wall of the upper member that is remote from the lower member.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the treating chamber is built up of two or more interconnected elements and in which the upper member is provided with means for attachment to it of a vessel from which treating fluid can be discharged when the vessel is in place through a passage into the interior of the treating chamber.

13. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the treating chamber comprises upper and lower members of which the upper member has means for connecting it to the cover for holding the light-sensitive surface and in which the said cover comprises a box-like container for the lower member of the treating chamber received and held in position within the cover when the latter and the upper member of the treating chamber are connected together, and in which the upper member is provided with means for attachment to it of a vessel from which treating fluid can be discharged when the vessel is in place through a passage into the interior of the treating chamber.

14. Apparatus according to claim 1 having a treating chamber composed of upper and lower members of which the upper member has means for connecting it to the cover aforesaid, the lower member is in the form of a frame such as to constitute side walls only of a part of the treating chamber and has one open end against which the light-sensitive surface will be gripped and the cover comprises a box-like container for the lower member whereby when the cover and the upper member are secured together the lower member of the treating chamber will have its open end forced against the sensitive surface which is gripped between that end and the bottom of the cover, and in which the upper member is provided with means for attachment to it of a vessel from which treating fluid can be discharged when the vessel is in place through a passage into the interior of the treating chamber.

NOEL PEMBERTON BILLING. 

